


That Thalmor Bitch

by In Absentia (2stupid)



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Gen, kink meme fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-13
Updated: 2012-08-13
Packaged: 2017-11-12 02:03:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/485447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2stupid/pseuds/In%20Absentia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elenwen arrives at the peace summit unannounced. Ulfric is not amused. And neither is Ardis, former Thalmor Justicar and Dragonborn extraordinaire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Thalmor Bitch

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a kink meme fill when the author was on way too much coffee and too little sleep. As such, may include purple prose. And implications of torture. You have been warned.

At first the Dragonborn finds the tension between Ulfric and Elenwen amusing. She knows about their past history (how could she not?), and the way Ulfric snaps at Elenwen whenever she presses in too closely reminds Ardis of a temperamental dragon. She supposes that it is Ulfric’s admittedly less-than-stellar mastery of the Voice. There is power in his words, a low deep rumble that the Jarl can’t quite contain, no matter how hard he tries. He knows it. The Greybeards know it. Even Elenwen knows it, for all the good it did her even back when she had him collared and on his knees, begging for her mercy. 

But then, she couldn’t face him either, not after Helgen. Perhaps that was why she had joined the Legion; to wipe away the memory of the face of a man who had caused her no end of grief. Or perhaps it was because she is dovah, and will not work under a man who had broken. 

The grating of heavy chairs against stone floors brings her attention back to the meeting. Elenwen is giving her the sort of half-demanding, half-pleading look Ardis imagined she once must have given Elenwen. Delphine is demanding Elenwen’s removal from the proceedings. 

Any love Ardis may have held for Elenwen has long since dried up. As Ulfric agrees with Delphine, she speaks.“As much as Elenwen represents the Thalmor Dominion in matters concerning Skyrim, I am afraid her presence here will be inconducive to peaceful negotiations.” 

Elenwen’s face changes from shocked to furious to desperate before she manages to bring herself under control. Ardis wonders if she has ruined Elenwen’s chances just as Elenwen once ruined hers, and hopes so. She hides her smile behind the high collar of her robes and knows that Elenwen sees it anyways. 

“Ardis-” Elenwen begins. 

“I am Dovahkiin,” Ardis replies, and it is true. The syllables twine themselves around her soul and feel right in a way ‘Ardis’ never did. “And you will leave now, or you will be forcibly removed. Your authority does not extend here, and it never will.” 

“Big words from such a small child,” Elenwen spits out as she leaves. Ardis watches her go, an uncomfortable squeezing feeling rising in her chest because now Elenwen’s first words to her will also be her last. Behind Ardis, Aranea mutters something uncomplimentary but makes no move. Ardis appreciates her dedication, but soon Elenwen won’t matter. Ulfric, on the other hand, stares at her, an unreadable look on his face. It disconcerts her more than it should. 

“Dragonborn.” Generall Tullius’s voice is reprimanding, but Ardis catches the undercurrent of curiosity. “Let us continue.” 

The summit winds its way to a close, and throughout it Ardis is distracted by the looks Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak keeps sending her. 

\---

Ardis isn’t sure why she seeks Ulfric out after the summit. Perhaps it is pity. Perhaps it is guilt, the memory of him staring at her, desperation in his eyes. She wonders if he even remembers her, then decides that he doesn’t. If he did, she doubts he would have let her near him. 

She had intended to thank him for his cooperation, but the words that tumble out of her mouth are “I’m sorry” and “I’m so, so sorry.” It is the first time she has apologized and meant it. 

“What?” Ulfric eyes her like she has lost her mind. Perhaps she has. 

He doesn’t remember her after all. She finds herself unwilling to tell him the truth, instead fashioning a mix of lies and half-truths. “I saw Elenwen’s dossier on you when I was sneaking into the Thalmor Embassy. It was very explicit.” The dossier was no such thing. 

Ulfric stills, and as if on cue Galmar Stone-Fist hurries over, eager to protect his Jarl. “You think I have no spies?” 

Oh, spirits. She backpedals. “Are you sure it was the same dossier?” The lie sounds flimsy even to her. 

“It’s not that,” Ulfric says slowly, shaking his head. His eyes rake over her form, and his brows knit together, as if he’s trying to remember. 

Ardis doesn’t bother to wait for him. She runs her hand softly along his jawline, remembering the feel of short hairs scraping against her palm. Her words come out soft and breathless, and she marvels that once she spoke without Shouting and did not know her loss. “What needs to be healed today, filth?” 

Ulfric punches her. 

When she recovers, Ulfric is glaring at her, rage and pain and humiliation on his face. General Tullius has his sword out and is shouting something, and the Greybeards are nowhere to be found. 

It was a stupid idea, anyways. 

A battleaxe crashes into her pauldron, driving her to her knees, and she barely rolls out of the path of the second swing. 

“Did you think I wear this armor because I like it?” she asks, wondering why no one seems to have made the connection before. The Amulet of Talos bounces wildly on her chest as she gesticulates. “I grew up wearing this armor. I fought in this. I bled in this. I was a Justicar. One of the best. And then you came along.” The stubbornness that once made her drag an incriminating set of armor the length of Tamriel won’t let her back down now. 

She sees the hate in Ulfric’s eyes. She knows how Elenwen broke him to her will, but he doesn’t understand how his Thu’um made living in the Dominion unbearable for her. He gets no further than “FUS-” before she punches him in the throat. 

The next few moments are a blur of pain and fury. She remembers throwing herself at Ulfric, the two of them desperate to rip each other to shreds before Aranea pulls her off of him. 

Her nose feels broken, but that’s fine since Ulfric won’t be opening his eyes very wide any time soon. She leans forward and spits a bit of broken tooth at him. 

Elenwen’s come back. She offers Ardis a pardon, a return to her position within the Aldmeri Dominion and more, if she would only lend her unique power to their cause. For a moment, Ardis is tempted. She could go back home and see the pride on her parents’ faces. She could watch the sunbirds wheel around the crystal towers of Alinor. She could feel at home again, and not cold all the time, and at least in Alinor there were no Talos-forsaken bears. 

Except she couldn’t. How stupid of her to wish otherwise. 

“I swore in Talos’s name to oppose the oppression of His worshippers. I will not return to the Dominion or aid the Thalmor while they still oppose the worship of Talos. Besides,” she adds as an afterthought. “I rather like this kalpa, and there are worse fates than death.” 

Round Two: Elenwen vs. Ardis.  
Winner: Ulfric Stormcloak. 

\--- 

“By Talos, that was great,” Ulfric gasps as they both sit down in the snow outside High Hrothgar. Elenwen’s screams have trailed off into the distance. It is a long drop off the mountain. 

“Is fus ro dah the only Shout you know?” Ardis asks. 

“I was only with the Greybeards for ten years,” Ulfric replies. “For an ordinary man, that is not nearly time enough. Besides, I remember you now. You opened the cage door.” 

“On orders,” she reminds him. “I was Elenwen’s assistant.” She does not tell him of the joy she felt at a job well done or of the pride she once took in her work. It would be inappropriate. 

“And then I Shouted at you,” Ulfric chuckles. “The look on your face gave me the strength to make it back to Windhelm.” 

“And after you Shouted, some part of me realized I had to find you again and Shout you down, to prove myself.” She tries to wrinkle her nose. It’s still swollen, so she ignores the attempt for now. “My superiors noticed my… distraction. They ordered my termination. So I fled.” They is Elenwen, of course. She has always handled matters personally. 

“And now we have Shouted the source of our woes off a mountain.” Ardis cracks a smile and ignores the blood that dribbles out of her nose. She and Ulfric will never be friends, not with all that has happened between them, but the best enemies are the ones who understand each other.


End file.
